Drill Results Point to More Gold at Historic Project

Dakota Gold Corp. (DC:NYSE American) reported assay results from eight drill holes at its Richmond Hill gold project in South Dakota that extend the gold mineralization in and around three known larger breccia pipes.

The holes were designed to test the Turnaround and Richmond Hill breccia pipes. The company said the results continued to identify gold mineralization below historical drilling at the Turnaround pipe. Drill holes at the Richmond Hill pipe have identified shallow oxide material east of the historical open pit mine.

The drilling "has extended the gold mineralization in and around the three known larger breccia pipes at Richmond Hill," Dakota noted in a release.

"The Richmond Hill mineral system just keeps getting bigger," said  Vice President Exploration of Dakota Gold James Berry. "Additional exploration to identify and expand mineralization in three known breccia pipes on the property will be incorporated in our future exploration drill program."

This data is not included in ongoing resource estimation work for the project, so Dakota said it would identify areas that could be added to future resource estimates.

"The gold mineralization at Richmond Hill continues to expand and is open to extension in all directions and to depth," Berry said.

Hole RH23C-022 intersected 1.13 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over 29.6 meters, RH23C-025 intersected 0.69 g/t Au over 54.9 meters, and RH23C-027 intersected 1.03 g/t Au over 38.3 meters in the northern part of the Turnaround Breccia Pipe at depth, the company said. These holes also contained numerous narrower zones of similar grade throughout their length, suggesting the breccia pipe hosts significant gold mineralization at deeper levels.

Holes RH23C-057 and RH23C-058 were drilled directly beneath previously reported drill holes RH23C-054 and RH23C-056, respectively, and returned results similar to the earlier holes, indicating extensive gold mineralization remaining in the wall rock adjacent to the historical Richmond Hill open pit mine.

The Catalyst: Exploration That 'Continues to Deliver'

In an updated research note, analyst Peter Bell of Canaccord Genuity wrote that "exploration at Richmond Hill continues to deliver."

Bell noted he was encouraged to see that assays from current holes exhibited similar results to previous holes, "indicating the continuity of gold mineralization remaining in the wall rock adjacent to the historical Richmond Hill open pit mine."

In November, the company released more Richmond Hill results, including RH23C-059, which returned 19.73 g/t Au over 2.2 meters within a larger interval of 8.55 g/t Au over 5.9 meters, "the highest-grade intercept returned to date from Dakota Gold's drilling campaign at Richmond Hill," the company noted in a release.

"The company is working towards an updated resource (Q1/24), and although these results would not be included in the updated estimate, we are encouraged by the results to date and see the potential for a significant expansion of the known mineralization outside of the historical resource area," Bell wrote.

'Richest 100 Square Miles'

Dakota Gold is exploring the 46,000 acres it has acquired and consolidated over the past decade surrounding the Homestake Mine. Industry giant Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX:TSX; GOLD:NYSE) also backs the company.

Once called the "Richest 100 Square Miles" on Earth, the Homestake Mine was discovered in 1876 and consolidated by George Hearst. Over 126 years, miners extracted 41 million ounces gold (Moz Au) and 9 Moz silver (Ag) from the site.

But much of the land owned by Dakota Gold has not been explored in nearly 30 years, leading some to hope there's still room for a major discovery there.

The Richmond Hill project is 1.5 miles north of Coeur Mining Inc.'s (CDE:NYSE) Wharf Mine, which produced more than 79,000 ounces Au in 2022 and is the only current operating gold mine in South Dakota.

Ownership and Share Structure

According to the company, approximately 25% of its shares are with management and insiders.

Out of management, Co-Chairman Robert Quartermain holds the most shares at 8.5% or 7.34 million shares, Reuters said. President and CEO Jonathan Awde is next at 6.8%, with 5.93 million, while COO Jerry Aberle holds 4.8%, with 4.2 million. The remainder of the 25% is held by other members of management and the board of directors.

About 26% of the shares are with institutional investors, according to Yahoo Finance and Edgar filings. A few of the top institutional holders include Fourth Sail Capital with 5.3%, Van Eck Associates with 3.5%, Blackrock Institutional Trust Co. with 3.4%, The Vanguard Group Inc. with 3.9%, Fidelity Management and Research Co. LLC with 2.9%,  CI Investments, Inc. with 2.8%, and 1832 Asset Management LP with 2.4%.

About 16.5% is with strategic investors, including Barrick Gold Corp., which owns about 3%. The rest is retail.

Dakota Gold has a market cap of US$177.38 million, with 86.74 million shares outstanding and about 67.47 million free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of US$3.945 and US$2.08.

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Important Disclosures:

1. Dakota Gold Corp. is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports and pays SWR a monthly sponsorship fee between US$4,000 and US$5,000.
2. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Dakota Gold Corp.
3. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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